A total of sixty 67 week-old Manina White strain laying hens were individually housed in cages to investigate feed consumption pattern during the day in relation to time of oviposition. Hourly feed intake and time of oviposition were recorded for each bird for seven days. Mean hourly feed intake of all hens showed a smaller peak at 10:00-12:00 and a larger peak at 17:00-19:00. There were no significant differences in amount of daily feed consumption and hourly eating pattern between egg-laying days and non-laying days. However, hens consumed about 10 g more feed (p<0.01) on egg-forming days (the day before oviposition) than on non-eggforming days. Hourly feed intake decreased prior to oviposition, but increased immediately during the time of oviposition. The peak consumption during the evening hours (17:00-19:00) was consistent regardless of the time of oviposition.

Keywords

Laying Hens;Oviposition Time;Feed Intake;Egg-forming Days;

Language

English

Cited by

References

1.

Ballard, P. D. and H. V. Biellier. 1969. The effect of photoperiod and oviposition on feed and water consumption by chicken of laying hens. Poult. Sci. 48:1781-1782.

2.

Bhatti, B. M. 1987. Exogenous regulation of the time of oviposition in the domestic fowl. World’s Poult. Sci. J. 43:116-131.